Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Thursday that the government has decided to set up army camps in the hilly areas near the Rohingya camps in Ukhiya to curb frequent kidnappings and other crimes.
 
“Kidnappings for ransom regularly occur in the hills of Ukhiya and Noakhalipara. Two army camps will be set up at Noakhalipara and Rangikhali under the 10 Army Division to prevent such crimes,” he said.
 
He made the remarks after a meeting of the national coordination committee on Rohingya camps at the Secretariat.
 
The minister said barbed-wire fencing and boundary walls around the camps are often damaged, while CCTV cameras frequently become inoperative.
 
The meeting decided to repair the damaged fencing, install posts with solar lighting, set up CCTV cameras at regular intervals, and construct control towers and watchtowers.
 
The minister, who chairs the national committee on Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs), said the committee includes representatives of the foreign ministry, disaster management and relief ministry, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), law enforcement agencies, Armed Forces Division, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard.
 
Joint operations against drugs, arms and human trafficking are conducted inside and outside the camps under the leadership of a deputy inspector general of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), he said.
 
In the event of war or an emergency, the army will take charge under the 39 Division, he said, adding that standard operating procedures have been prepared for such situations.
 
Drug trafficking, online gambling, human trafficking and the movement of armed groups are the main crimes in the camps, the minister said.
 
He said the APBn Act was recently amended to empower the battalion to investigate such offences. Around 400 sub-inspector-level officers serving in the APBn had previously not been authorised to conduct investigations.
 
Jungle Salimpur plans
 
The minister said a separate meeting on Jungle Salimpur in Chattogram was also held on Thursday.
 
Representatives of the public works ministry, Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), Chattogram district administration, inspector general of police, director generals of BGB and RAB, Coast Guard, SRB and Armed Forces Division attended the meeting.
 
A police academy modelled on the Sarda Police Academy will be established, and land is being identified for it.
 
Seventy-two acres of land have been acquired for Chattogram Central Jail, which will be relocated beside the Baizid Link Road.
 
Land has also been allocated to the police, BGB, RAB and APBn, which will build their respective installations.
 
The minister said the government would bring all state-owned land, including hills and khas land, in the area under proper administration. Those who have illegally settled there will be rehabilitated, with decisions on the matter to be taken later, he said.
 
Educational and other institutions in the area will be run by the government.
 
He described the area as a "haven for terrorism" in the past, saying it would now be freed from such activities and brought under proper order.
 
Responding to a question about Rohingya repatriation, the minister said a separate high-level committee led by the prime minister, with representatives from the foreign and home ministries, is dealing with the issue.